News Release

UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA students offer
N.C. companies pro bono consulting

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina companies and non-profits can apply for free business consulting from MBA students at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The UNC student consultants will help make North Carolina businesses more competitive free of charge through the Student Teams Achieving Results (STAR) Program, said strategy professor Edward Cornet, director of the STAR program and a former management consultant. The consulting projects are designed to help managers improve the performance and competitive strength of their organizations while providing valuable leadership experience to MBA students. Faculty advisors guide STAR teams as they work in partnership with the companies’ management.

UNC Kenan-Flagler is now accepting applications for the 2006-07 STAR program. The application deadline is Sept. 30. Selection of companies for the program gives priority to North Carolina businesses that view exporting and other forms of global expansion as a way to grow. Companies will be selected this fall, and student teams will work with their client companies from January to April.

An information session about participating in the STAR Program will be held Thursday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Room 204 at the Kenan Center. Executives with four companies from last year’s program will speak about how the student consulting teams benefited their businesses.
Some of the business issues addressed through the STAR Program include:

• Responding to increased pressure from international competitors
• Finding the right markets for a product that may be attractive for export
• Developing a strategy that taps into global markets to achieve growth

Recent participants from North Carolina include: Beard Hardwoods; Cornerstone BioPharma (a pharmaceutical/biotechnology company that makes critical care products); Hardin’s Wholesale Florist; Liquidia (a nanotechnology product development firm); and 2Thumbz Entertainment (a wireless mobile phone content provider specializing in college licensed material).

“By helping these companies improve their performance and competitiveness, Kenan-Flagler is directly contributing to the continued health of North Carolina’s economy,” Cornet said.

The consulting projects receive support from the Golden LEAF Foundation, which gives priority in its grantmaking to tobacco-dependent and economically distressed counties.

The STAR Program was launched in 2005. STAR is part of the business school’s Leadership Program. “The STAR Program gives students significant experience that accelerates their leadership development through opportunities to work on business problems with significant consequences for the companies they help,” Cornet said.
Companies interested in attending the information session should contact Lynne Gerber at (919) 962-2684 or Lynne_Gerber@unc.edu .

More information and a program application are available online at star.mba.unc.edu.

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UNC Kenan-Flagler contacts: Allison Reid, (919) 962-8951, allison_reid@unc.edu; Allison Adams, (919) 962-7235, aadams@unc.edu
News Services contact: Kyle York, (919) 962-8415, kyle_york@unc.edu.